More Marty Memories

The sudden, unexpected loss of Marty Grebb, former keyboard player for The Buckinghams and studio session musician for some of the biggest names in the music business, still has quite a few of us rattled.

Here is some more commentary on this very talented man ... 

MARTY GREBB: 
Hi Kent,
So sorry to hear about Marty's passing. He will be missed greatly. We pray for his family and friends to have peace and comfort.
Bless ya, my friend.
Barry

Thanks, Barry.  I’m sure The Buckinghams and The Royal Guardsmen probably crossed paths a time or two during what turned out to be a banner year for BOTH groups, 1967.  Always sad to lose our music heroes.  (kk)

Yes ... very sad indeed ... a great man and a brilliant musician and singer.  

Scott May will be sending you a piece on behalf of himself and the Ides for you to run in Forgotten Hits.

Thx!  

Jimbo 

Looking forward to it.  (I wrote to Scott earlier, hoping he would share something with our readers.)  Without question, one of the highlights of The Marty Grebb Benefit Concert was Scott's tribute to Marty's former band, The Fabulous Rhinestones days (during which he also told a very touching story about how Marty reworked Scott's original "demo" tape and sent it back with full vocals and instrumentation.)  May, an accomplished keyboardist and vocalist who doesn’t get to stand in the spotlight on his own often enough, took great pride in pointing out to the audience that night that his “back-up band” for this particular performance included Marty Grebb, along with Dennis Tufano and Tom Doody on background vocals.  It was an awesome performance … and another reason the video of this show needs to be released.  (kk)  

From Scott May, on behalf of all of The Ides Of March ...

And all whose lives Marty touched ...

The Ides of March join the rest of the musical community in mourning the passing of our brother in arms Marty Grebb -

We can still hear his soulful voice soaring over his wailing B3.

We watched from the wings as he sang “What A Wonderful Thing We Had” with his amazing band with Kal David, the Fabulous Rhinestones, when the Ides had the pleasure of sharing the bill with them at many Chicago venues including Dex Card’s Wild Goose in Schererville, Indiana.    

Marty’s vocal work as a member of the Buckinghams on songs such as Mercy, Mercy, Mercy defines what the term “blue eyed soul” is all about. 

More recently, as he fought his brave fight against cancer, he put it all aside and blew away the crowd at the Arcada at the amazing Hammond Organ event.    

Marty Grebb will live eternally through the rich legacy of his music.

Rock in Peace - 

Jimbo and all the Ides of March  

 

There are too many days and too many more to come where friends, fellow musicians - known and simply unknown but desperately admired - leave us earlier than we ourselves move on to whatever is next.  Faith in there being something and something better keeps me going and, in light of recent events in my own life, it makes the realization of an end point here all the more real.  Scary to be sure, but if this life is indeed only a beginning or just another step, my hopes and prayers are to remain here long enough to right all my wrongs and then find others who left me first so I can share with them again. 

Sad to read - tears at the edges of my eyes and a lump in my throat as I type this.  I’ve been personally touched by the losses of Les Kummel, Billy Herman, Mark Eskin and countless friends and family outside of the music world - all gone, but to where ... ??? 

Be blessed, my friends –

May this event be the only one that impacts any of us until at least enough time has passed to regain our smiles and get back to thinking about our own destinies.  Peace, brother Kent, my Cornerstones companions, and everyone else whose lives Marty impacted and whose passing came too soon. 

I cannot help but think of Peter Gabriel's lyrics when he suffered such a loss and wrote "I Grieve" - my "go to" song in times like these.

Ray Graffia, Jr.

It was only one hour ago
It was all so different then
Nothing yet has really sunk in
Looks like it always did
This flesh and bone
Is just the way that we are tied in
But there's no one home
I grieve, for you
You leave, me
So hard to move on
Still loving what's gone
They say life carries on
Carries on and on and on and on

The news that truly shocks
Is the empty, empty page
While the final rattle rocks
It's empty, empty cage
And I can't handle this
I grieve, for you
You leave, me
Let it out and move on
Missing what's gone
They say life carries on
They say life carries on and on and on

--Peter Gabriel

This is beautiful, Ray!  Can’t see how anyone could say it better.

Jimbo

Thanks, Jimbo … feel free to share wherever and with whomever.

I am touched by your feelings.  You make this negative news approach positivity and at least more bearable.  30 years active in Roman Catholic church ministry, half as a Lay Minister and then 15 more years as an ordained Deacon exposed me to too much grief in funerals but also to incredible happiness while presiding at marriages and Baptisms - blessings that generated sensitivity way beyond what I thought I had.  When we moved out of the Archdiocese of Chicago (where my rock & roll liberal approach to Christianity was not only tolerated but endorsed) and into the far more conservative Diocese of Rockford in 2007, I commuted for a year, then decided to return to the church pews and give up my vestments but cannot contain learned emotions, especially in times like these. 

I am humbled by your note and will be honored if you do indeed choose to share it with others.

Far too long until May when our paths are most likely to next cross, Mr. Peterik (and Mr. Onesti and others copied here) …

May we all be blessed until then and long beyond –

Make it always,     

Ray

I guess I wasn’t consciously familiar and aware of this song … although I most definitely did see the film “City Of Angels” and watched the Jonathan Kent death scene on “Smallville” … but I agree … an appropriate and emotional choice.  Thanks to all for sharing.  (kk)

An interesting way to listen to this tune that really captures the sadness of losing a loved one ... even more so if you happen to be a "Smallville" fan ...

Hey Kent –

I knew Marty beginning with his days with The Exceptions and then going to the Bucks.  Everyone knows what an incredible, incredible musician he was … not only in his ability to play, but also in his ability to express the music.  I also knew him as a very, very good guy.  I'm sure everyone else can give you more insight into Marty than I can because I knew him tangentially ... I was never in a band with him, but admired him greatly and enjoyed the friendship we developed after the Marty benefit show.  This one hurts.

Tom Doody / The Cryan’ Shames

Hi Kent ...

My condolences to the family of Marty Grebb on his passing. He was an asset to the band with his great keyboarding talents.  Looking at the videos, he seemed to be in good spirits, all decked out while performing with the Buckinghams. So sad.  There is one thing that I can say for certain about the Buckinghams ... 

Whenever I hear a Buckinghams song, I can attest to becoming magically transformed into being in another time and another place.  The music does that to me.  I can attest to being back in high school and being 16 years old. It is a great lift to my spirits. It's good for my mental health. I look back and smile. It was a simpler time and a simpler life. They do that to me. Thank you, Buckinghams!

Sandra Lorenz

 
And, ending on a timely, upside note, take a look at this ...

JOIN IN THE FUN IF YOU’RE ABLE:

>>>Hey, Brad, let us know more about the chat room games … maybe some of us can chime in!  (kk)
Hi Kent:

I plan to run the first game based on your top 3333 list tomorrow night, (Wednesday, January 8), at 10 PM Eastern, 7 PM Pacific times.

Unfortunately, a player / listener MUST have the (truly awful) AOL Gold to be able to access our chatroom.

I can send details about how to get there if you wish.  I cannot send a link because the chatrooms on AOL Gold don't have a way to send a link.

What I am doing in this game series is sending lines of song lyrics, to which players respond with the song title and artist name for 1 point each.

I have constructed each of the 4 (so far) games I have outlined by taking JUST ONE song from each page of the Countdown list (which I painstakingly wrote on legal pad paper as the list wound down (or up...) 

I try to equally divide my song selections for each game from TOP 10 national hits and non TOP 10 songs.

Following next Wednesday's game # 1, I'll likely be running a similar game every 3-4 Wednesday nights.

Mr. Jaded and I have been a game hosting/scorekeeping team for more than 20 years now in that time slot.  Time REALLY does fly, doesn't it?

If anyone out there expresses an interest in the chatroom games, please pass my e-mail address on to them.

I'll be glad to explain what we do and when we run games to anyone interested.

Brad

wmbradspa@aol.com

Does ANYBODY out there have AOL Gold???

Just kidding … I know that this is VERY short notice (my fault, not Brad's ... here's an example of the scheduling conflicts I mentioned above!) ... but I hope that we can steer a few participants your way.  Let me know how it goes!  (kk)

*****

1970:  January 7^th – The Friends of Distinction record “Love Or Let Me Be Lonely.”  It will ultimately peak at #5 on the national charts when it is released as a single in March.

Also on this date, a $35,000 lawsuit is filed against Max Yasgur, owner of the farm that hosted last year’s Woodstock Festival.  The suit alleges property damages and is just one of over 70 lawsuits filed against Yasgur.